Your question SEEMS to suggest that believers should “NOT use wine” at the Lord’s Supper. We have covered the question, “Do we use wine or juice at the Lord’s Supper?” several times over the years and this question has been hotly debated by those who advocate one over the other. You SEEM to be an advocate of only using juice. But “what saith the scriptures?” We here at Answers From The Book always turn to the Word of God to answer our questions and I believe there is a clear answer to this question.

Let’s read the account of the Lord instituting the Lord’s Supper in Matthew 26:26-29, “And as they were eating, Jesus took BREAD, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the CUP, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink OF THIS FRUIT OF THE VINE from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” The Lord Jesus had just eaten the Passover Supper with them and then He used the bread and the wine (the “fruit of the vine”) that were on the table to symbolize “His body” and “His blood” that would be offered up as a sacrifice for sin. Some, who argue that we should use JUICE when celebrating the Lord’s Supper, say “the fruit of the vine is the pure juice of the grape that God produces naturally while wine is what man makes of the juice after treatment and fermentation.” So, which is it, “pure juice or fermented wine?”

I believe it is “fermented wine.” Why do I believe that? I could go into Jewish history to show that during the Passover Jews used “fermented wine in their observance of the Passover” and as we saw the Lord used the “bread and wine” that were on the table (where the Passover had just been eaten) to symbolize His “body and blood” that would be offered up on the cross to pay for our sins. But more importantly, there is scripture to support this view. In 1 Corinthians 11:20-21 we read, “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and ANOTHER IS DRUNK.”  The Apostle Paul had to rebuke the saints at Corinth for coming to the Lord’s Supper in a “DRUNKEN state.” Here is what William MacDonald says on verse 21: “In the early days of the church, Christians celebrated the ‘agape,’ or love feast along with the Lord’s Supper. The love feast was something like a common meal, shared in a spirit of love and fellowship. At the end of the love feast, the Christians often had the remembrance of the Lord with bread and wine. But before very long, ABUSES crept in. For instance, in this verse it is implied that the love feast lost its real meaning. Not only did the Christians not wait for one another, but the rich ones shamed their poor brethren by having lavish meals and not sharing them. Some went HUNGRY, where as others were actually DRUNK! Since the Lord’s Super often followed the love feast, they would still be drunk when they sat down to partake of the Lord’s Supper.” If you read on in verses 23-25 you see Paul referring to the institution of the Lord’s Supper and in verses 26-27 he says, “For as often as you eat this bread and DRINK THIS CUP, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread and DRINKS THIS CUP of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” By coming to the Lord’s Supper in a “drunken state” they were “drinking this cup…in an unworthy manner.” Obviously, there was “fermented wine” in the cup at the love feast and they had “ABUSED the wine by drinking too much.” If this had been “juice” they would not have become drunk.

I know that those who oppose using fermented wine at the Lord’s Supper believe a Christian should NEVER DRINK ALCOHOL, but what we have just seen proves that “wine can be USED, but it is not to be ABUSED.” The Lord Jesus’ first miracle was “turning water into wine” at a wedding (John 2:1-11). The Lord Jesus Himself drank “fermented wine” at times and because of that was accused of being a “winebibber” (one who drank wine to excess). We read of this in Luke 7:33-34, “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread or DRINKING WINE, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Many has come eating and DRINKING, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a WINEBIBBER.” This proves that the Lord drank fermented wine and yet He NEVER GOT DRUNK (though He was vehemently accused of that very thing). This teaches us that we can “drink wine in moderation” (see Numbers 6:20, Psalm 104:14-15; 1 Timothy 5:23) but we should never “drink wine to excess” (Genesis 9:20-21; 1 Corinthians 11:21; Ephesians 5:18). When we “drink of the cup of wine” at the Lord’s Supper, it is simply a “sip” and thus we are “drinking in moderation.”  (DO)  (653.3)